One of the steadfast principles guiding my life is the belief that everyone’s story matters.

That means yours.

While I was working on this blog post, I asked the awesome group in My Details to share the answers to a few questions: What makes documenting yourself difficult? What is holding you back?

The responses made me change my trajectory, because there are so many forces large and small that can stop a storyteller in his or her tracks. Too many to fit into one blog post.

Many of us stop ourselves from documenting our own stories because we are afraid or insecure. These sound like big, scary words that might be too severe, but these feelings are real for many documenters (including, in many instances, myself). It is hard to take and use photos of yourself if you don’t like the way you look. It’s hard to document in the moment if you’re worried people will judge you for taking pictures. It’s scary to put down your perspective when it may change later or others may read it and react.

These aren’t fears that are easy to break away from. It’s my hope that My Details as a workshop helps others to find value in telling their stories and breaks them down into a way that feels manageable, but I’d love to go a little deeper. I’d love to open up the conversation even more.

So please, share what makes documenting yourself difficult for you. I can share my perspective on how I got over some of these roadblocks in future posts; I’ll also be honest about where I still struggle, and am planning on including tips from others as well (so share tips if you have them!).

Band together, community! Let’s lift each other up and tell our stories.

My Details starts today! Kristin (from rukristin) and I have teamed up to help you document your details. With amazing pre-classroom materials that will help you get comfortable documenting yourself and 10 detailed prompts to help you record the important areas of your life, you’ll be inspired to document yourself in a meaningful way. Whatever your creative outlet — scrapbooking, pocket pages, mini-albums, journaling, etc, we’ve got you covered with fabulous ideas to get your details down on the page.

P.S. This year I’m documenting a Day in the Life every month on the 15th. That’s tomorrow if you want to play along! I’ll be sharing some on Instagram as I go.

I definitely get nervous about how others will react to what I’ve written down. Not strangers, but close people. I’m afraid they will judge me, so when I write down really personal stuff, I cover it up, or sometimes paint over it. It’s good to get it down on paper, but sometimes I just don’t want others reading it.

Ami Pilon

There are parts of my childhood and early adulthood that I choose not to share on line. I have worked hard to have a life now that I am proud of and I think this is why I love Project Life and documenting the here and now. At my age it is easier to find moments from the past that are fun to record but the good thing about recording my own story is that I get to write it. I think this is my motivation. I don’t want others to guess what my motivations were for public actions that I take and have taken or the way I choose to live now. No one sees the beauty I see in the way that I see it. This is what I love to share, the simple moments.